Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe is a crossover fighting game from Midway Games in the Mortal Kombat series, which was released on November 16, 2008. The game contains characters from both the Mortal Kombat franchise and the DC Universe. The game's story was written by comic writers Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray.

The game was developed using Epic Games' Unreal Engine 3 and is available for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms.

Contents

Gameplay

The game features a story mode, playable from two different perspectives, one from the "DC Universe" side, and one from the Mortal Kombat side. Depending on which side players choose, they will see the characters from the opposite universe as the invaders of their own. Ed Boon has confirmed that the player will have to play as all the characters at different points in the game, which is split into chapters.

Intertwined within the fights are new gameplay modes, such as "Free-fall Kombat," which is activated automatically after throwing the opponent to a lower level in the arena. The players can fight in the air during the fall in a quasi-mini-game, with a player having to hit certain buttons to be on top and deal out the damage when the fall ends. "Klose Kombat" is a mode you can enter during a fight, causing the characters to lock with each other and the perspective to change to a close-up shot of the two, to make for an interval of close-quarters fighting. A "test your might" mini-game is also worked into the gameplay. While fighting in certain areas, the player can smash the opponent through a series of walls. The player on the offense mashes buttons to increase damage, while the player on the defense mashes buttons to decrease damage taken. A mode called "Rage Mode" is also introduced, allowing for a player's attacks to be uninterrupted by offensive combat and an increase of damage. However, Dark Khan is able to both block & attack the player while they are in Rage Mode.

During fights, characters show permanent signs of damage, such as bruises, bleeding, and broken or torn clothing. All of the Mortal Kombat characters and DC villains have fatalities, while DC heroes have "heroic brutalities" which function in the same manner, but stays in tone with the heroes who have an established reputation of not killing their enemies.

Characters

According to interviews, the characters were chosen for their popularity, and for parallels between characters from both universes.Ed Boon has said that some of the characters' abilities, especially on the DC side, have been toned down to make them balanced within the game. Boon specifically mentioned that Superman will have some vulnerabilities because of magic, otherwise the game would be sorely unbalanced. Wonder Woman will also be playable in Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. She is seen in the trailers talking to Superman and confronting Scorpion at the division of their worlds. She appears to lose this fight, as she is seen on the ground when Scorpion disappears.

Plot

After Shao Kahn's invasion of Earthrealm is defeated by Raiden's forces of light, Raiden destroys Kahn by blasting him through a portal. At the same time on Earth, Superman is seen stopping Darkseid's Apokoliptian invasion by blasting the Apokoliptian god with his heat vision as he enters a Boom tube. These acts do not destroy either of them, but merges them into Dark Kahn, and causes the DC Universe and Mortal Kombat universes to merge.

As the worlds merge, the characters' abilities fluctuate, causing violent "rage" outbreaks that are actually the feelings of Dark Kahn being fused into the characters from afar. Because of this, certain characters either gain strength or vulnerability (allowing a character like Superman the possibility of being defeated due to his vulnerability to magic, and a character like the Joker the ability to fight Raiden). With each world thinking that the other is responsible for the merger (or a potential invasion), they fight each other in Mortal Kombat until only two remain: Raiden and Superman. In the final battle, Raiden and Superman fight while Dark Kahn feeds on their rage. Both realizing that the other isn't working with Dark Kahn, they overcome their rage for each other and defeat their fused enemy, restoring the two worlds to their normal separation.All the heroes and villains soon turn up sent to back to their original universes.

Development

In order to keep its "Teen" rating, two of the game's Fatalities were slightly censored for US audiences. Both the Joker and Deathstroke's first Fatalities feature each of them finishing their opponent with a gunshot to the head. The UK version of the game is shown uncut with each respective shot shown from a distance. However the US version has the camera quickly pan toward the victor before the shot is fired, thereby cutting the victim out of the shot completely.